A Different Kind of Distraction
by ibuiltthesunforyou
Summary: Faberry one year post graduation (slightly AU). Rachel decides she needs a change in her life after being distracted from her career in New York. Quinn might be that change.
1. Chapter 1

I never really thought much into high school romance. It was a point of social climbing for me, for getting up in any way I could. If I was said to be on top, shouldn't my significant other be just as high on the social ladder? I didn't think anything of high school sweethearts, especially since my parents were just that and they weren't exactly the best role models, whether it came to romance or common human decency. At that time anyway. Sure, I fell from grace easily and swiftly, got a little more desperate than I'd like to admit, even got a few months of sweet memories in total, but still, most romantic escapades in my high school years were always to pull me up in some way. But there ways always someone. Someone who got so under my skin that I could barely oppress the urge to scream most days. Or cry. Or smile so big that my lips would fall off my face. And those things? Those aren't things that were within the realm of possibilities. Not for me. I was controlled, I was the ice queen of the school, by choice, by my own, wonderful choice. I mean, look what happened to me the one time I wasn't? I had almost landed a spot on Teen Mom, Lima edition. But this- this _someone_, they made me feel things. They made me feel everything. They did it in a way that knocked me off my feet, knocked my on my butt so that I had to scramble to my feet. And I hated her for it. I hated her with every fiber of my being for making me feel so much, for making me feel things so quickly, so easily. Who was she too break down whatever walls I'd brought up with one idiotic smile, or terrible musical reference. Who did she think she was? They say shorter people are just closer to hell and I will forever believe that is true because I will never forget the way she made me feel like I was on fire every single day.

Now, why am I telling you this?

My name is Quinn Fabray. I have happily been away from the 4 years of hell for approximately a year. A year of getting used too stepping outside my door without an eye on me. A year of hearing music from my roommates' stereo instead of my parents screaming. An entire year of sneaking into my friends' beds whenever I liked, of going out late at night to the library and spending the entire night burying my mind in worlds that seemed so much closer now. A year of blasting my music, of no high ponies, of sweat pants to breakfast, to make up being completely and utterly optional. It has been the best year of my life, one that made everything in the past seem like it never mattered.

It was a regular night, of order in chinese with my roommate at her book club, the entire dorm to myself, perfect in every way. It was interrupted by loud knocks, ones that sounded like someone had propelled themselves into the door. I was used to frat boys stumbling through the halls, and ignored it at first, until I heard the Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory-esque three knocks punctuated with a high pitched sound like sounded suspiciously like my name. Suspiciously in the fact that anyone who actually knew my name was doing exactly what I was doing at that moment. We were a family of shut in's and we liked it that way, when we did join up it was planned through small bubbles on our phones and trips to the store to stock up on food that would clog our arteries until we were in our 80's.

I stumbled to my feet, ready for some religious spiel and not even bothering to look through the peep hole.

Now remember when I said the past never mattered? I forgot about one thing that always would. And it showed up to my door covered in snow, quivering like a leaf, sputtering words out of purple lips and clutching a metro pass.


	2. Chapter 2

I blinked. I stared. I gaped. I did everything that was completely inappropriate for that moment. Once against I felt like horrible sense of falling- of being out of control; because the one person- the only person who could make me feel like that was speaking faster than I could've ever kept up, staring with big doe eyes as she threw words at me.

My vision tunneled in her direction as I furrowed my eyebrows, missing each and every word from her lips, whether it was because of the speed or my surprise, I can't say. "Rachel-" I broke through, watching her lips purse as she rocked anxiously on her toes. It always seemed like whenever she wasn't speaking- or singing, the words were pushing at the inside of her lips like a storm. "What are you doing here?"

There was a slight change in the way she looked at me, her lips parting but no sound coming out.

"Not that I'm-" I paused, licking my lips nervously before offering a slight smile. "Not that I'm not happy to see you."

Her eyes lit up, deep brown engulfing my vision before she pounced. It was like being hit by a bus. A tiny, cold bus, but still. She had always been tiny, yet deadly.

My hands jumped up in surprise, arms rigid as she wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing up against me, snow dusting off of her dark hair and onto my nose.

It took me a minute to respond, gently wrapping my arms around her small form just as she pulled away and pushed past me. Only to begin pacing my dorm room.

"I have made a decision- it might sound rushed but I know exactly where I should head, I've always known that and even if I was a little side tracked, it shouldn't take away from the integr-"  
>"Rachel."<p>

"It's normal in every actor's career to hit a wall, it's normal, it's good actually, it gives a lot of experience to any role. You can't play conflict without knowing con-"  
>"Rachel."<p>

I shut the door and leaned against it as she spoke.

"I have changed, I know that, and I know we all have and change is also good, but change shouldn't have impeded my career-"

I took a couple steps forward, reaching my arm out and catching her as she walked into it. My hand nudged gently at her hip, and her string of word vomit ceased for a moment as her entire body turned towards me. I realized how close we were. It took me a moment to speak.

"Rach." I said, gently. "What's your decision?"

She seemed speechless for a moment. Maybe it was because of how soft my voice was. I was very conscious of how different I had become, and I suddenly felt a twinge in my chest when I remembered the person I was when I left Lima. I didn't think of it often, but when I did, it hurt.

"You."

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Me?"

"You."

"...-Care to elaborate?"

She nodded excitedly, placing both hands on my shoulders.

"You! Quinn, don't you see? You need me in your life as much as I need you!"

Ignoring how her smile looked as if it threatened to break off of her cheeks- something that was unique to Rachel Berry, I pursed my lips.

"How is that, exactly?"

Her hands dropped into mind, grabbing at my fingers like life lines.

"You balance me! I balance you. We motivate each other to be better. I don't know why I didn't see this before- I need _you_."

A strange warmth spread throughout my stomach at those words, the hope in her big brown eyes making me feel a whole of array of emotion that even at my current- 'chill' as Allison liked to call it, state, I felt uncomfortable with.

"You need- what? I really don't think my brand of insults should be your stage mom motivation."

Her eyes narrowed, in a way that seemed playful, but everything Rachel did seemed like a mix between playfulness and cutthroat. "I wouldn't put myself in a place to be insulted, Quinn. I like myself a bit too much for that." She raised her hands holding them up awkwardly for a moment before pressing them against my upper arms. "You as a person, Quinn. Even when we were at odds, with you in my life, I constantly excelled. I got better. Even after we found each other's friendships. _Especially_ after Christmas Break."

My cheeks felt like they were stained red, the warmth in my stomach gone as it seemed to be crawling up my throat. "I-" I felt cold fingers brush away my messy, chin length blonde hair, which had all but fallen completely into my face. They brushed against my eyebrow.

"It's nice to be able to make you flustered Quinn." Came a voice so much softer than I had ever heard from Rachel in high school. Her fingertips rested on my cheek. "I feel like I've spent a lot more of my life trying to get a reaction out of you than I should have."

My eyes flicked across her face slightly. "Maybe I've just gotten worse at hiding it."

Then, with significant deju vu, I heard a loud knock at the door.


End file.
